Felt hardening machine



(No Model.)

G. YULE FELT HARDBNING MACHINE.

' Patented Dec. 6,1881.

1% $254M am Mi 56 a" i 4 1/1, I "1 141.14

. STATES PATENT Orric.

GEORGE YULE, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

FELT-HARDENglNG MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 250,411, dated December 6, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, G. YULE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Newark, county ofEssex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Felt Hardening Machines, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in machines for hardening hats; and it consists, first, in the combination of a roller with an adjacent pressing-board, their adjoining surfaces being arranged to form a tapering cavity, into which the felt roll is laid and rolled by the combined operation of the rollers surface and the gravity of the felts.

It further consists in the combination, with the pressing board, of pivots and bearings adapted to support the board at various angles with the surface of the revolving roller.

It also consists in the combination, with the pressing-board and its pivots, of an adjustable stop; and it further consists in the combination, with the roller and the pivoted pressingboard, of a treadle and connections for moving the board by the foot of the operator,the whole being combined with and mounted upon a tank of water for wetting and crozing the felt in the usual manner.

In the drawings annexed, Figure l is a transverse section of a machine constructed with myimprovements. Fig.2 is an end elevation of the same, and Fig. 3is an alternative'mode of constructing and operating the boards.

A is the frame of the machine; B, the tank; G, the roller,mounted upon standards or bearings 0 upon the tank. Dis the pressing-board d, the pivots of the same; E, the plank upon which the felts are prepared, and F the felts. (Shown in a roll or bundle in the cavity of the machine in Fig. 2.) The shaft of the roller is indicatedat a, and a pulley, with belt f applied thereto, is shown at b. T is the treadle, pivoted to the frame of the machine at i, and G are the connections from the same to the pressingboard, the latter beingshown provided at the end with a crank or arm, e, which is secured to the pivots outside the hearings in which they rotate.

Thepressing-board is shown hinged near the Application filed October 1, 1881. (No model.)

' lower front part of the felting-roller-O, inclined slightly away from it,so that the opposed surfaces of the board and roller form a tapering cavity, into which the felts are wedged by their own weight when laid therein. The distance of the board from the roller can be varied to suit the sizes of various bundles of felts by means of adjusting-screws 8, applied behind the pivots, which are mounted in slotted bearings t for that purpose. The angle assumed by the board can also be thus varied, and the effect of gravity upon the same bundle modified at pleasure. In Fig. 1 the board is shown tipped entirely backward, with its outer end resting upon the plank. In this position any felt previously laid in the cavity would be discharged and rolled out upon the plank toward the operator. To facilitate such discharge the inner edge of the board is curved toward the roller 0, so that it becomes elevated when the board is tipped outward.

The operation of the machine is to roll the felts over and over in the cavity; and to secure this movementof the felts, and to act upon them more effectively as a presser, I provide the roller 0 with ribs 0", projecting from its surface longitudinally or transversely, and rotate the roller, so that it tends to lift the felts upward from the bottom or sides of the cavity, into which they fall again as they slip from the rollers surface. By this lifting and falling, as well as by the intermittent pressure of the ribs, the felts receive nearly the same kind of rolling and kneading as if hardened by hand, while they are preserved from any severe pressure or concussion.

My machine is therefore peculiarly adapted to operate upon new felts which are too tender to bear any violent treatment. The degree of 0 pressure to which they are subjected is regulated by the adjustment of the screws 8 and by the pressure of the foot upon the treadle, as it is found in practice that the more the board is tipped away from the roller the less the felts are wedged into the cavity as they fall from the ribs upon the roller.

By means of the stop shown at H the distance of the board from the roller can be ad justed, the stop being secured to the frame by a slot and bolt to permit the required movement. The effect upon the felts can also be judged by the pressure of the practiced operators foot, as is common in other felting machines. The treadle is preferably so proportioned that the weight of the board will overbalance it, and the felts will therefore be discharged from the machine when the foot is removed from the foot board of the treadle, which is made to extend all the way across the front of the machine, and has a connection G, attached to it at each end for moving the pressing-board.

The mode of constructing the tank, treadle, and plank upon felting machines is so well known that no plan of the" machine is given showing both of the connections G or pivots d in one view.

Having discovered the utility of the mechanism described for acting upon a new hat-felt,

I do not limit myself to the precise mode ofconstruction described above, but show in Fig.3 another wayin which the pressing-board and roller may be combined. In this view two boards, D, are shown applied to the roller 0, and provided with pressing-weights w,attached to levers l, secured upon the ends of the boards. The effect of the weights is to determine the pressure of the boards upon the felts I and the connections G are used to pull the boards backward sufficiently to permit the removal of the felts.

Having devised the above-described mechanism, I do not limit myself to its use for any single part of the felting process, but design it to be used at any stage where it is desirable.

I therefore claim my invention as follows:

1. 111 combination, the felting roller 0, mounted upon bearings and revolved in the manner set forth, and the pressingboard D, arranged and operated to form a cavity for rolling and pressing hat-felts by their own gravity, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. In combination, the ribbed roller mounted and rotated as described, and the pressingboard pivoted in adjustable bearings, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with the rolierG and pivoted pressing-board D, arranged and operated as described, the treadle T and connections G, or equivalent pressing mechanism, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE YULE.

Witnesses CHARLES A. MGLARTY, Tnos. S. CRANE. 

